Diamante Italy: Tourist destination extraordinaire

From the wheeled vehicle that climbs towards Buonvicino, the Borgo (village) is a cluster of houses that seem to lean on each other immersed in the lights. The “bearable” decibel music broadcast by loudspeakers tells of the immediate vicinity of the patron saint of the Borgo, San Ciriaco, being celebrated.

The festivity attracts families from neighboring municipalities and fellow citizens faithful to their roots from abroad. It is the feast of San Ciriaco in Buonvicino, Calabria, Italy, aggregated to the network of the most beautiful villages in Italy.

The Borgo is celebrating for 2 days, from morning to late at night when illuminations replace the daylight. Musicians stimulate improvised dances of the pervading joy where even the Mayor of the village is seen dancing among her people to the rhythm of notes spread by an accordion, a tambourine, and a flute.

The lyrics of the songs are incomprehensible in language and noise, but we know that they describe events of local life.

The Museo Della Civiltà Contadina is one of the few local attractions attracts new generations to Remi to witness a past lived with difficulty and without the technology of the 21st century. The cuisine typical of the Borgo offers simple and tasty dishes accompanied by excellent and generous local wine.

Accompanying the convivium was the presence of a storyteller, a historical figure from the regions of southern Italy, who with his tools – a poster with figures and a wand – traveled between towns and villages to vocally illustrate facts and misdeeds in the news… a facebook or Instagram ante litteram. Today a professional in a modern key sings the stories accompanying himself with stringed instruments involving a more advanced audience. But it’s nice to have met his predecessors who have gone down in history.

The Riviera Dei Cedri

From this hill in the light of the sunset through gaps of vegetation, the idyllic view of the Riviera Dei Cedri may be seen. Here, there territory is called Riviera Dei Cedri and is located on the North Tyrrhenian Cosentino from Tortora to Paola. It overlooks the sea that hosts the Dino islands in Praia a Mare and Cirella in Diamante as well as the Regina di Acquappesa rock.

The coasts of Diamante are protected by the mountains of the Calabrian Apennines, which extend from its Massif to the central Sila Plateau to descend to the extreme south of the Aspromonte, passing through the Paolana Coastal Range and the Serre Chain.

The Pollino Geopark contains 69 geo sites: glacial cirques, morainic deposits (dating back to the last Wurmian glaciation), snowfields, fossils of Riudiste, particular rock formations, the Grotta del Romito with its Paleolithic remains, and the Raganella, Lao, Rosa, and Gravina gorges.

For trekking lovers, behind Scalea and Diamante, lies the Orsomarso mountains with the Cozzo Pellegrino at 1.987m, La Mula at 1.935m, and La Montea at 1.825m. Here the water flows abundantly with the streams and with the Lao and Argentino rivers that cross historic villages and ancient remains that can also be visited through quad excursions, rafting, and canyoning.

Among chestnut, beech, and oak woods it is possible to meet wild horses, the Apennine wolf, the eagle owl, the roe deer, the golden eagle, and the black squirrel – a native Calabrian species.

A territory dedicated to ecology

The Elettra hybrid hydro hull, the first solar-powered passenger boat designed by Francesca Galiano and Luca Grosso, is an ecological navigation experience for exploring the coast between San Nicola Arcella and Praia a Mare from Isola Dino. From here, there is a trek to the Arco Magno along the panoramic path scented with the scents of the Mediterranean scrub.

The territory of the Riviera Dei Cedri is unified under the sign of ancient history whose testimonies can be found in every village.

From the Magno-Greek explorations to the Via del Sale (the salt route), is a millennial path that connects the coasts of Calabria through the mountains that cross it. The Basilian monks have lived, practiced, and preached in these lands for many centuries.

The Sanctuary is also the “Stage 0” of the Way of St. Francis, recognized and included in the Atlas of the Routes of Italy. The villages of the Riviera Dei Cedri also preserve the millenary history of the various monarchical dominations from the Castle of the Spinelli Princes of Scalea to the Aragonese Castle of Belvedere Marittimo built at the behest of Ruggiero the Norman at the second half of the 11th century.

La Grotta del Romito, Papasidero is a UNESCO Global Geopark – a single geographical area whose sites and landscapes have international geological value.

The symbols of the Riviera del Cedro

Among the symbols of the territory is the Diamond Smooth Cedar, an ancient citrus fruit whose roots go back to classical antiquity and Jewish orthodoxy. The Cedar that grows in this area is the most prized cultivar for the Jews. The rabbis come every year to Santa Maria del Cedro in search of the Mêlon, the tree of Eden, the perfect cedar, the Liscio (smooth) Diamante (Etrog in Hebrew) cultivated in Tortora in Sangineto and intended to be used as a votive offering during the Jewish ritual of Sukkot (Feast of Booths or Tabernacles).

The Cedar Museum of Santa Maria del Cedro is the place where the history of the cedar and its deep connection with Jewish culture is celebrated. The Museum offers the visitor an agro-mystical itinerary.

The chili pepper to which the “Peperoncino (chili) Jazz Festival” is an annual event of great attraction, runs from July to September 6 and enlivens the evenings of the 48 municipalities of the Riviera Dei  Cedri.

Murals: The new aesthetic and social value

Over time, the murals, as well as being creative expressions of the population against power, have taken on more and more aesthetic value but have never abandoned their social value. They highlight the identity of the place and have become an attraction of cultural tourism. The Riviera Dei Cedri was chosen by Italian and international artists who during 40 years of activity have left traces of their paintings – the “murals” – or street art in Diamante and Cirella.

The works of fine workmanship are about 300 and divided by theme. Among these stands out a mural mosaic created in the historic center of Diamante in 1981 by the Sposito couple, considered virtuosity of great artistic value. It tells the genesis of Diamante from the very beginning – from the well-known graffiti of the Bull of Papasidero up to today’s civilization of farmers and fishermen. It tells the figurative story of the “Colli Dei Greci” (the hills of the Greeks): Tripidone, Trigiano Saved, and much more in our day.

A warning is made to the population connected to the painted figure of the large diamond suspended from a red woolen thread.

“The author asks the citizen of Diamante to be jealous and guardians of all the beauty that surrounds them otherwise that red woolen thread will stretch, break, and the great jewel will shatter in the void.”

This gem of wisdom always applied by the Consortium in its promotional activity has raised the image of the destination to a national and international level.

It is with this spirit that the Diamante and Riviera Dei Cedri Tour Operators Consortium was born to bow to the secular history that from the dawn of time reaches the present day. It offers a 360-degree holiday to its guests – from the rest of the sea to mountain excursions, from archeology to religious paths, up to the food and wine history of immense variety and absolute delicacy. It is a large touristic promotion operation aimed at drafting articles regarding the Calabrian upper-Tyrrhenian stretch.

The 3 days fam tour of the foreign press association of Rome hosted by the Consortium was dedicated to the discovery of the coastal and mountain territory between Borghi of Lao and the Riviera Dei Cedri, absorbing the culture, traditions, history, food, and wine that make this portion of Calabria extraordinarily unique.

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